SOUTHERN MAORI SEAT

Hokitika Guardian, 6 November 1928, Page 7

SOUTHERN MAORI SEAT

address by mr Turn makiterana Mr Tuiti Makiterana, the United Party’s cunditate for the Southern Maori seat, which includes the West Coast district, addressed about a dozen electors in the United Party’s rooms in Rond street Dunedin. Mr Malcolm Stevenson introduced the speaker, and welcomed him on behalf of the local executive of his party. Mr Makiterana said he was appearing before them that night first as a “candidate for the Southern Maori seat and also as a supporter of every one of the United Party candidates in the. province. After a spirited denunciation of the Government along the most general and sweeping lines, the speaker took his hearers back to the death of the Libera, Party in 11)12. Mr Massey, he said, had two slogans when he went into power. They were “freehold” and “tnihoa,” the former being for the white man and the latter for the Maori. And the Maoris knew it only too well, and would never forget it. Since the Reform Government put its “taihoa” policy into practice the Maoris had been slowly robbed of all their land, even though Sir .Tames Carroll, “the Prime Minister of the Maori people,” had done his best to see that the total confiscation of Native land was not brought about. It had been no good, however, and the Government had gone on with its confiscations, violating the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi and every other agreement made with the Maoris. Under the Ward Government in 1909 the Maoris were given the right to challenge the valuation of their land, and appeal against it, but the Reform Government had deprived them of this privilege, and made the Crown the sole judge of the value of Native land. It was virtual confiscation. If a Maori’s land was valued at 10s an acre and he went to a European and asked for 10s Gd an acre he was liable to three months in gaol. Was that equity? Was that justice? And were they going to stand it any longer? He did not think so.

The pick of the Maori land had been confiscated, the purchase money being not a fraction of its value, and the (J ivernment had written to all its fi lends in the North Island saying: “Here is plenty of Maori land cheap. Come and get it.” And they came. The land was not sold by public auction. hut privately to Reform supporters. and that was why the North Island was the stronghold of Reform. If the European land holders were treated like that there would he a rebellion, and the (government would not last 18 hours. As a result of all this poverty had stricken tho Maoris in the North Island, and was making itself felt in the South also. It was all outrageous. “I cannot understand why you people allow Reform to stay.” said the candidate. “1 am all right. My roads and railways and everything else are quite good, because I live in the North Island. Rut you have to put up with everything.” The speaker then went on to say that there was only one Liberal Maori in the House, and he was the only one worth his salt. All the rest went to sleep, and it took the division hell to wake them up. Then, when they did wake up,they had to find out which way Mr Coates was jumping before they voted. The speaker went on to the question of the Maori Purpose Fund Board and its administration of the money entrusted to it. The hoard, he said, consisted of the four Maori members in the House, the Prime Minister, and Judge Jones, of the Native band Court. This Hoard got about £IOO,OOO per year for the social, physical and educational welfare of the Maori race, but not one pe*inv of that money had ever found its way to the South Island. “And it never will,” he finished (crescendo) “until you put a live wire in there.” That money was for the Maori to educate himself. At present there were about 4.000,000 acres of land for 60.000 Maoris. When they took the pumice lands out of this total, it left four acres a head for each Native. Under these conditions how could the Maori hope to educate himself? He needed the assistance that the Maori Purpose Fund was supposed to give. The speaker warned his hearers that unless the Maoris equipped themselves with the same weapon as the European used—education —they would find that the battle of life was too fierce. The picture of the Maori race at present was not too rosy, hut if they put their faith in Sir Joseph Ward they would have a good chance of getting hack to the good old days when Liberalism was at its best.